Hellier is a paranormal documentary series (produced by Planet Weird), in which a team of researchers — Greg and Dana Newkirk, Karl Pfeiffer, Connor Randall, and Tyler Strand — conduct a several-years-long investigation that begins with a strange case of Kentucky goblins (possibly aliens) and leads to a greater expansive discussion of synchronicity, the Mothman, and other strange phenomena.

As Cassandra Rose Clarke writes in her excellent discussion of the show:

“Hellier isn’t really about proving or disproving anything. It’s about following a trail. The trail starts with the doctor’s email but doesn’t track to a single line; rather, it fractals out, so that what started with an email about aliens ends with a ritual to the god Pan inside an Appalachian cave.”

Part of the trail that the team follows is research, including the reading of books and articles to expand their knowledge of the paranormal, the occult, and magic. One of the first things I wanted to do upon finishing the series was to gather together a list of all the books and media mentioned, so that I could explore them myself as an entry point into learning more about experiences of high strangeness.

Here is that list — combing works that were key to the series (such as The Mothman Prophecies and Secret Cypher of the Ufonaughts), while others were only mentioned briefly.

If I forgot to include anything, please let me know. Also, if a third season comes out, then I’ll update and expand the list to include any new material.

Shows

• Spirits of the Stanley, (web series) — (review)

Podcasts

• Euphomet — “As Above, So Below” (rereleased as “Hellier is just a symptom”)

Books

• Achad, Frater, Liber Thirty One
• Bard, Janet and Colin, The Secret Country: More Mysterious Britain
• Brandon, Jim, The Rebirth of Pan: Hidden Faces of the American Earth Spirit
• Branton, The Secrets Of The Mojave
• Campbell, Joseph, The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life & Work
• Crowley, Aleister, The Book of the Law
• Crowley, Aleister, The Book of Lies
• Derenberger, Woodrow, Visitors From Lanulos
• Derenberger, Taunia, Beyond Lanulos: Our Fifty Years With Indrid Cold
• Greenfield, Allen, Secret Cipher of the Ufonauts
• Hansen, George P., The Trickster and the Paranormal
• Jung, C.G., Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle (review)
• Keel, John A., The Mothman Prophecies
• Keel, John A., Flying Saucer to the Center of Your Mind: Selected Writings
• Keel, John A., Searching for the String
• Kirk, Robert, The Secret Commonwealth: An Essay of the Nature and Actions of the Subterranean (and, for the Most Part) Invisible People, Heretofore Going under the Name of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies
• Livingstone, Josephine, “The Remarkable Persistence of the Green Man,” The New Yorker
• Lloyd, John Uri, Etidorhpa: Strange History of a Mysterious Being and an Incredible Journey Inside the Earth
• Mezrich, Ben, The 37th Parallel: The Secret Truth Behind America’s UFO Highway
• Moore, Robert L., The Archetype of Initiation: Sacred Space, Ritual Process, and Personal Transformation
• Nunnelly, Barton M., The Inhumanoids: Real Encounters with Beings that can’t Exist!
• Strieber, Whitley, Communion: A True Story
• Thibetan, Phylos the, A Dweller on Two Planets
• Vallée, Jacques F., Dimensions: A Casebook of Alien Contact
• Vallée, Jacques F., Passport to Magonia: On UFOs, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds

Note: This post was first published on Medium on January 14, 2021.